How many hours to do this work?

I would like some professional opinions on a job that is currently being done in my bathroom. I hired the first man to fix the walls, install the tub, and paint. I fired him after I saw what he had done. I hired the second guy ( much later), who came highly recommended by someone I trusted. He said the guy was slow, but did excellent work. Slow doesn't even come close!!

Please, without ridiculing me, can you look at the before video ( after the 1st guy's work) and the second video showing what the second guy did. Can you look at the work and tell how many hours of work this would take in it's present condition? I was told by the contractor that only a little work would need to be done to the walls before he put a knockdown texture on.
How many hours should it have taken for the work that has been done?

Unfortunately, the contract I have does not specify how long it would take for the work to be done, and there was more work other than just the walls. It's been 30 days and the second video shows what he's got done.

This first video is what it looked like before the second guy started.

This video shows what work the 2nd guy has done.

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I hope you didn't pay them a dime. The first video looks terrible. I am not a pro, but i would think it should only take like a few days to fix up the bathroom. And when I mean a few days thats not 8 hour days.

I had someone do some work in my basement that I did 90% of the work and he came in to do the finishing work. He would come in do some work one day let it dry. come back the next day do some for a couple hours. So the three days he was there it was like 6 to 8 hours total.

The second guy you hired probably has a bigger job he is working on and when he has a few free hours he'll work on yours. Only advice I could say is just to keep calling him til he gets it done.

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That's sad---I'm sorry that you found Moe and Larry---lets hope your third one will not be Curly.

Are you paying by the hour or for a completed job?

You should have heard the warning bells when they started on the drywall before the deck farming--plumbing and electrical were finished.

There is an order of things in a bath remodel---demolition--framing and structure---plumbing rough--electrical--then drywall and tile backer---drywall finish--tile work---paint--final trim out--vanity-base moldings and window casing-light fixtures--towel bars --tub trims--final coat of paint.

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That's sad---I'm sorry that you found Moe and Larry---lets hope your third one will not be Curly.

Are you paying by the hour or for a completed job?

You should have heard the warning bells when they started on the drywall before the deck farming--plumbing and electrical were finished.

There is an order of things in a bath remodel---demolition--framing and structure---plumbing rough--electrical--then drywall and tile backer---drywall finish--tile work---paint--final trim out--vanity-base moldings and window casing-light fixtures--towel bars --tub trims--final coat of paint.

I will complete the work myself. I put the shower in last night and it took all of an hour. Would of taken even less time, but I had trouble with a tight thread. I put the GFI outlet in myself and that took all of 15 min. tops. I'll also put in the lightbar myself, and do something with the other things that he did not do.

The thing is, he told me that it would not take much time at all to get ready for the knockdown. He originally said he could do it all in one weekend. He could have done the other things that I hired him to do in that time, but he didn't. He was always full of sorry's, promises, and excuses. I did pay $500 down payment for this work. According to him, the first week he put in 30 hours, and supposedly 30 hours each week following, which would be 120 hours total in the month. He spent a lot of time in my garage doing god knows what. ( he left his equipment in my garage) He'd come and spend more time in my garage than anything. Then he'd come and say he'd be back in 30 min. and never come back.

I would like to know how long it should have taken him to do what he has done so far.

He won't return my calls, so tonight I am going to leave a message for him to get his stuff out of my garage and that he's fired.

When I complete the bathroom, I will come back and post photos. I've already ripped up the floor, put in the shower, replaced the GFI outlet, and redid the cabinet doors and drawers.

Was the friend who referred these guys named Craig? And did he also give you a list?

No, No craigslist.

I called the person who recommended him and told him what was going on. He said he was going to call him and rip him a new one and that he was going to come over and finish the job himself because he felt terrible about the situation.

The order of job progression Mike mentioned is remodel 101. Any apprentice (that cared) would at least know you do this before that.

The good news is if your going to finish this yourself you came to the right place, after you calm down there are plenty here that can help you with any questions you may have to help you finish your project.

Let me be the first to say that your tub is simply too big for the space.
That kind of tub is not meant to go wall to wall, (or framing to framing in this case). So unless you took some room from the closet that area will never be right.
Do you really want a receptacle so high up on the wall as it looks like this is?
That is impractical to say the least.
I hope you are not now DIYing a project that is ill designed in the first place.

The entire project should be done in about or under a week, IMO. That's with 3 coats of mud, 1 coat of primer, 2 coats of paint including ceiling painted, and all the finishing such as baseboards, done. I agree that the bathtub doesn't fit in, and the order of things is competely backwards.

Something isn't adding up here, in the video you say the 2nd guy only came for a couple hours each week?

sorry for your luck, hope it turns out ok. My suggestion would be finding a different method of finding contractors, I'm not sure if a bargain price has been a reason for hiring these guys, as i've seen work like that from cheaper contractors (not saying that is the case, just throwing it out there).

There are a lot of contractors/tradespeople out there who will put in a good days work, get the work done in a timely manner, and will give you a bathroom you love. The people you hired don't strike me as professionals.

One thing I would recommend is having a plumber have a look at the tub, especially if you are upstairs and have a drywalled ceiling below- to make sure the tub is being drained properly, as you could risk water damage. I hope they did not move any plumbing for that tub.

That is why I started doing my own car repairs. I took a car back 3 times for a simple air conditioner switch problem. (The slider switch would not stay all the way over like it should and needed adjustment.) They could not fix it. So I got a factory service manual, found the adjustment, and fixed it myself. Been fixing my own cars ever since.

Then I wanted a woodstove installed. Three different guys did not show up! I finally decided to do it myself. Read all about it, got a building permit, reviewed my plans with the inspector, he gave me some suggestions, and I did it right. Inspector even said "nice job"!

And recently remodeled my bathroom...

Anyway the secret to all this stuff is learning to do drywall. It is actually quite easy. Mistakes can be sanded. Just need to do a bit of reading. Watch some drywall videos on youtube. Get the right tools which are not very expensive.

Then behind the drywall is wood. You can get a few tools like a saw and tape measure, then cut pieces of wood to go behind the drywall to support it. You can also cut the drywall back to where a piece of wood (stud) is, then anchor a new piece of drywall to that.

All sorts of tricks to fix holes in drywall walls.

Anyway once you learn drywall, then the SKY is the limit! You can cut out the drywall, easily add an electric outlet or plumbing, then replace the drywall.

Drywall is heavy. You can hire a helper for not too much money by the hour to help you with the lifting. Maybe a high school or college student. Might even find one with a truck! Or the store will cut drywall to fit in a car.

I learned all this stuff by watching other people do it. If there is a house being built, stop by and ask if you can watch what they are doing.

I know the tub is too big for the area. The first guy was supposed to extend the wall in front so the tub would fit, but he didn't. He put it in like he did. Grr... The second guy said he could just make a small parapet (?) in the wall instead of extending the whole wall.

The first week, the 2nd guy was actually here several hours a day, but he spent most of his time in my garage, and very little work being done in the bathroom. Then, he'd come, and leave without saying anything, so I wasn't sure how long he actually was in the bathroom working that first week. I started keeping watch for him and the actual time he put in on the bathroom was very little. I know he had to wait for the mud to dry, but I think a lot of his sneaking out was to make me think he was working more than he was. When he left, he left my bathroom light on, door closed ( which he kept the door closed when he was in there) so I would think he was in there working.

The last time he was here, he told me the job was taking long than he thought (30 days, no kidding!) and that he would like $200 for expenses. I told him absolutely not, and he hasn't been back since. I called and left messages, but he hasn't returned them.